Armenians - The Merchant Princes of India

The Armenian traders came to India in the 12th
century and gradually made India their home. The churches, tombs and
buildings constructed by them are a living testimony of their highly
refined culture.

The memory of the tragedy caused by the earthquake
three years ago on December 7, 1988, continues to haunt Armenia, the
smallest republic of the Soviet Union. It was only when generous
contributions began to pour in from the handful of Armenians that
reside in India, that an awareness was generated, and my insatiable
instinct to know more about this first Christian nations
people, was kindled.

It was, perhaps, the Armenian obsession with
commerce that led its traders to come to Indian across the overland
route from Persia, through Afghanistan and Tibet in the 12th
century. The Armenians became the first merchants to carry back from
India spices, muslin and precious stones to Europe and the Middle
East. The first reference to Armenians settling down in India is
dated to the 16th century, during the reign of the Mughal
Emperor, Akbar. Aware of the Armenian merchants integrity and
shrewd nose for business, Akbar invited them to settle in Agra, the
imperial capital. In 1562. he married an Armenian, referred to as
Mariam Zamani Begum in Abul Fazals Ain-I-Akbari. In Fatehpur
Sikri, Akbars deserted capital, there exists a four-room
building known as Mariams House. Remarkable for its skillful
miniatures and its gilding it was built by Akbar for her.

Akbars successor Jehangir, less tolerant than
his father, tried to convince two Armenian brothers Mirza and
Iskanderus of his court, to become Muslims. On their refusal, he had
them scourged and circumcised. Pious and philanthropic, Mirza, the
most distinguished Armenian in India during the past three hundred
years, was a strict Christian all his life. He won the admiration of
the Jesult fathers when he built a church while he was Governor of
Mogor. Mirza was responsible for setting up a college in Agra. A
fact little known, perhaps even to the local population of Agra, is
the existence of the well preserved Martyrose Chapel built by an
Armenian merchant in 1612. The octagonal chapel has a beautiful dome
toped by a cuppola bearing a cross. Inside the chapel, are two
sandstone mural tablets bearing a Persian inscription at the head of
the grave, while an Armenian inscription at the foot of the grave
reads, In this tomb rests the pilgrim Martyrose, son of
Pheerbashee of Julfa. Died in the year 1060 of the Armenian era.
Twenty-six Jesuit Fathers are interred in the Chapel, bearing
Armenian inscriptions.

At Agra, is the oldest Christian tomb in Uttar
Pradesh, that of Martyrose, located at the Old Armenian Cemetery.
Hundreds of Armenians were buried here between 1611 and 1927,
majority of them merchants who had come from Iran. It is interesting
to note that between the years 1707-1774, Armenians were buried at
the cemetery which can possibly be attributed to the fact that the
capital was being shifted from Agra to Delhi, leading to the
merchants simultaneous exodus.

Records are scanty regarding Armenians in Delhi.
The sack of Delhi by Nadir Shah in 1739 and the Indian mutiny of
1857, that razed churches and cemeteries to the ground, were obvious
causes. Today, the only traces of Armenians in Delhi are a few
scattered graves, a memorial tablet in the National Museum which
states that an Armenian chapel was built in Delhi in 1781, and
perhaps the most interesting living instance of all-a small tomb
tucked in the vicnity of Jama Masjid, called the tomb of Sarmad, who
was put to death by the Mughal emperor Aurangzeb, allegedly for his
religious practices.

As I visit Sarmads tomb with my friend Hovsep
Seferiyan, himself an Armenian, settled in Brazil, yet with a deep
and intense longing for awakening a part of a rich legacy buried in
the mists of the unknown, a strange sense of wonder strikes me. For,
here lies the grave of a man buried next to a Muslim saint, getting
the same reverence as the saint! Muslim from all walks offer prayers,
flowers and kerchiefs to the very man who died for his faith, totally
unconscious about the fact that Sarmad was a Christian. Sarmad
(Arabic for eternal), was an Armenian merchant who came to India
from Persia and began doing business in Sind. Soon afterwards, he
fell in love with Abhai Chand, a handsome Indian youth who became
his first disciple when he took the path of Sufism. Many stories
survive about Sarmads mystic powers. It is said that Aurangzeb
had Sarmad executed in 1661 for his supposed heresy. Sarmad is said
to have greeted his executioner with the couplet:

The friend with naked sword has now arrived,
In whatever disguise thou mayst come, I recognize three, I go
towards the mosque, but I am not a Musalman. With those words,
he sealed his fate.

If Calcutta was once a City of palaces
the sobriquet perhaps owned more to merchant princes from Armenia
than to the British Raj. Today, there is no opulence of the bygone
era, but memories remain. The Armenian Church, built in 1695 at
Chinsurah, West Bengal, occupies a significant place in history, as
it is the second church to be built in Bengal.

It is believed that the khojas, as the
Armenians were called, had carved out a niche for themselves in
Calcutta long before Job Charnock started an English colony in
Calcutta. The English, aware of the fact that Armenian merchants
were always in good favour with the Mughal Emperors, employed Khoja
Sarhad, a local merchant, who had sprung to eminence, to help them
get governing rights to three villages. Sarhad justified his
appointment by helping the English obtain the historic Grand
Firman which conferred numerous privileges on them and
subsequently paved the way for the establishment of British rule in
India. Sarhad, seems to have slipped into oblivion, for history
makes no further reference to the shrewd Armenian merchant.

The Armenians thrived in Calcutta and a major part
of this wealth was spent in shaping the growth of the city. JC
Galstaun, a leading builder, credited for building 350 houses,
developed and beautified central and south Calcutta. As a public
spirited citizen, he donated money to the Victoria Memorial Building
Fund and made several donations to several institutions. Competing
with Galstaun as a patron of education and art, was Arathoon Stephen,
whose family came to India in 1857. Among the properties owned by
him include Stephens Court, a five storeyed building on Park
Street, and the Grand and Everest Hotels, later acquired by hotel
magnate, M.S.Oberoi. The Armenian community of Calcutta, the
largest in India, though only a bare hundred, while maintaining a
distinct identity, have amalgamated their lifestyle with the rest of
India. The Armenian Orthodox Church which exists in Bengal retains
traditional Armenian rites and is seen by many as the custodian of
the Armenian national identity. Explains Seferiyan, Keeping in
view the role played by Armenians in India in the past, it is the
generosity of the Indian government to have permitted a priest from
Armenia to visit and help enliven Armenian traditions.

Bombay, position as the Gateway of India, invited a
flux of transiting Armenians on their way to other Indian cities.
Barely any Armenians reside in Bombay. Armenian Lane near the
Armenian Church of St. Peter, marks the locality where the wealthy
Armenians once resided.

The first Armenian to have landed on the Malabar
Coast was Thomas Cana, during the reign of Sheo Ram in the 8th
century. Landmarks of contributions made to the city of Madras,
still exist. Woksan, and Armenian merchant who had amassed a
favourable fortune from the monopolisitic trade position he had
acquired from the Nawab of Arcot, invested a great amount in
buildings. The Marmalong Bridge, with many arches across the river
Adyar was constructed by him and to top it all, a huge sum of
maintenance donated to the local authorities. Besides building rest
houses for pilgrims, he built the Chapel of Our Lady of Miracles in
Madras. Today, only one Armenian resides in Madras. The only
reminder of the bygone era is the Holy Virgin Mary church of 1772 on
Armenian Street.

Armenia, has had through centuries, a history marked
by many struggles for independence and by a series of brutal
massacres. The 17th century saw a flood of Armenians
escaping from Persia of India, forming a settlement in Surat, the hub
of commercial activity. The Prince Orloff diamond weighing 195
carats presented to Catherine II of Russia by Prince Orloff, is said
to have been sold to him by Johannes Rafael, an Armenian merchant of
Surat. By the 18th century, as war between the French and
the English took a more violent turn, Armenians in Surat, having
suffered heavy losses, turned to Bombay as their centre for
commercial activity.

Descendants of a branch of the Indo-Europeans, the Armenians have
a highly developed and diversified culture that has been apparent in
their architecture, painting and sculpture. The Armenian connection
with India dates back to long before the advent of the European
traders. According to historian Mesrovb Jacob Seth, a Hindu colony
existed in Armenia in 150 BC, when two princes fled from Kanauj after
a plot to overthrow the king was unearthed. This amazing fact has
introduced a fresh and new dimension to history that has buried
itself in the past for centuries.